In this section

ILLSTON ON THE HILL

Illston on the Hill lies eight miles south-east
of Leicester. It was formerly a chapelry divided
between Carlton Curlieu and Noseley, with a small
part of the area in the ancient parish of King's
Norton. (fn. 1) It later became a chapelry of Carlton
Curlieu alone. For civil purposes Illston was an
independent parish by the end of the 18th century (fn. 2)
and probably by the 17th. The parish is 1,363 a. in
area and forms a rough triangle of which two sides
are marked by roads. The line of the Gartree road
divides Illston on its south-west from Carlton
Curlieu, and the road between Market Harborough
and Melton Mowbray marks the eastern boundary
with Noseley. The soil is mainly clay, with patches
of gravel, and the land is mainly pasture. The number of inhabitants has not varied greatly since 1086,
when 22 persons were enumerated at Illston. (fn. 3) There
were 32 taxpayers in 1381. (fn. 4) In 1563 there were 19
households and in 1670 32; there were 93 communicants in 1676. The population rose in the 19th
century to a peak of 311 and then fell. It was 169 in
1951. (fn. 5)

The village itself stands on the spur of a hill over
550 ft. high and consists of a single street running
south-west from the road between Noseley and
Galby. The line of the street is continued northeastwards as a lane which passes Ashlands and joins
the road from Market Harborough to Melton
Mowbray. The village street comes to an end south
of the manor-house and from this point a bridle way
leads to Carlton Curlieu Manor on the Gartree road.
Illston Manor House is an L-shaped building of
late-17th-century origin, having a lower story of
ironstone with stone-mullioned windows. In the
centre of the south front is a four-centred doorway
above which is a tablet carrying the Needham arms
with the motto 'In parvo quies'. The string course
flanking the tablet is inscribed 'M.H. 1794', (fn. 6) probably representing the date at which the upper part
of the house, now rough-cast, was reconstructed.
Gate piers of rusticated stone with ball finials are
contemporary with the earlier part of the building.
At the north-east end of the street, which divides at
this point to skirt a triangular piece of ground, are
two farms, one of which, Lodge Farm, has buildings
partly of ironstone probably dating from c. 1700.
Apart from this the village consists entirely of later
brick cottages and farm-houses. In particular there
is evidence of considerable rebuilding in the later
19th century. The Oddfellows' Hall, built in 1901,
was bought for use as a village hall c. 1950. (fn. 7) A
terrace of four Council houses was erected in 1951.

On the road from Market Harborough to Melton
Mowbray about a mile south-east of the village is
a point known as Three Gates, where lanes from
Illston, Noseley, and Carlton Curlieu meet. Three
Gates Farm, standing west of the road, dates from
c. 1830. Further north on the same road, where it is
joined by lanes from Rolleston and Noseley, stands
New Inn Farm, formerly a coaching inn, the
'Hazlerigg Arms'. (fn. 8) It was built in the 17th century
and is of ironstone with a slightly later rear wing of
brick. At the south gable-end a large chimney is
flanked on the first floor by so-called 'hiding places',
accessible only from the loft above. These walled-in
embrasures appear to be fairly common in the
district, particularly where the flues were originally
large ones of timber and plaster construction. The
house was re-roofed and the windows were altered
in 1898. (fn. 9) A range of early-19th-century brick coachhouses and stables was at one time used as cottages.

On the boundaries of the parish are three isolated
country houses. The oldest, Carlton Curlieu Manor,
formerly called Illston Grange, (fn. 10) stands on the
north side of the Gartree road and was in existence
early in the 18th century. Robert Foster, who
married a daughter of John Dand of Galby, lived
here. (fn. 11) It was evidently rebuilt in 1777 (fn. 12) and remained a working farm until 1900 when it was
acquired by Charles F. P. McNeil (fn. 13) who made considerable alterations to the house. In 1958 it was
the property of Mr. J. Brankin Frisby. The other
two houses were built in the 1860's, principally
as hunting boxes. Illston Grange, formerly called
Illston New Grange and later Illston Hall, was built
for Col. J. W. Baillie, who, until 1895, was Colonel
Commanding the Leicestershire Yeomanry. (fn. 14) The
house, which was of red brick, was demolished in
1927 after the death of his heir, Lt.-Col. F. D. M.
Baillie. (fn. 15) There had originally been a small farm on
the site (fn. 16) and the property is once more a farm. The
large stable block with its central clock tower has
been left standing and is now used as a riding
stables. Ashlands, on the northern boundary of the
parish, is a stone mansion in the mid-19th-century
Tudor style, also having extensive stabling. It was
completed in 1867 for Charles Arkwright (d. 1892) (fn. 17)
and was later occupied in turn by R. A. Falkner and
Miss H. S. Butler. (fn. 18) It is now owned and occupied
by Col. Breitmeyer.

MANORS.

Of the 9½ carucates at Illston recorded in
1086 8¾ were held by Hugh de Grentemesnil. (fn. 19) In
1205 an estate at Illston was confiscated from John
de Joy, a Norman, and in 1231, after it had been held
successively, as part of the bailiwick of the Sheriff
of Leicester, by Hugh de Chacombe, Walter de St.
Audoen, Nicholas de Nereford, and John de Nereford, it was granted to the priory (later the abbey)
of North Creake (Norf.). (fn. 20) Creake Abbey held the
larger part of Illston during the Middle Ages, (fn. 21) and
it may be presumed that the abbey's estate, described
as the manor of ILLSTON in 1507, comprised much
of the land held by Hugh de Grentemesnil in the
11th century. All the abbey's property reverted to
the Crown in 1507, after all the members of the community had died in an epidemic, and soon afterwards
Illston manor was granted through the agency of
Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, to her
new foundation of Christ's College, Cambridge. (fn. 22)
Creake Abbey's farmer in Illston, Thomas Entwhistle, continued as farmer to the college. All the
land belonging to the manor appears to have been
held from the abbey (and later from the college) by
tenants in fee, paying quit-rents. (fn. 23) The college was
still receiving rents in the 18th century, (fn. 24) but sold the
manor some time after 1738. (fn. 25)

In 1277 Arnold DuBois died seised of land in
Illston. (fn. 26) His heirs were, successively, his sons John
(d.s.p. 1290) and William (d.s.p. 1313). William's
heir was Maud, daughter of his sister Isabel Lovel
and wife of William, Lord Zouche of Haringworth
(d. 1352). (fn. 27) Another William, Lord Zouche of
Haringworth (d. 1396), held the manor of ILLSTON
in 1388, on the death of the overlord Henry, Lord
Ferrers of Groby. In 1457, on the death of Edward
de Grey, Lord Ferrers of Groby, the manor was
held by William, Lord Zouche of Haringworth
(d. 1462). (fn. 28) A substantial estate, apparently to be
identified with this manor, was conveyed in 1526 by
Thomas and Elizabeth Borough to John Jenner and
Alexander Villiers, with contingent remainder to
Thomas and Elizabeth. At that time George and
Mary Kingston were tenants of the estate for the life
of Mary. (fn. 29) The estate evidently reverted to Thomas
and Elizabeth, for in 1574 Richard Borough died
seised of the manor of Illston which he had inherited from Thomas and Elizabeth, as in right of
Elizabeth. Richard was succeeded by his son John or
St. John Borough (fn. 30) who in 1588 sold the manor to
Francis Needham. (fn. 31) The manor then passed from
father to son, Francis being succeeded in 1614 or
1615 by his son Edward (d. 1617), (fn. 32) his grandson John
(d. 1669), and his great-grandson Edward (d. 1691). (fn. 33)
This last Edward was succeeded by his youngest son
Edward, his two elder sons having predeceased him.
The younger Edward, who secured a private Act
enabling him to sell part of his estate in order to pay
his debts, (fn. 34) died in 1728 and was succeeded, apparently, by his unmarried daughter or daughters: a
Miss Needham died in 1758 (fn. 35) in possession of the
manor, which thereupon passed to a member of the
Dimock family. (fn. 36) Mary Needham, sister of the
younger Edward, had married Charles Dimock
before 1678. (fn. 37) Between 1758 and 1790 the Dimock
family sold the manor to Mary Heard of Billesdon, (fn. 38)
from whom it was inherited by Lt.-Col. John King.
King died in 1869 and the lordship of the manor
descended to his three daughters, who jointly held
the manor in 1890. (fn. 39)

LESSER ESTATES.

A number of smaller estates
existed in Illston in the Middle Ages. In 1086 there
were 2 bovates belonging to the king's soke of Great
Bowden. (fn. 40) At the same date Robert de Buci held
half a carucate (fn. 41) which descended with his other
property to the Basset family. (fn. 42) In the mid-13th
century Ivo le Chamberlain held land in Illston of
Ralph le Chamberlain, who in turn held of Ralph
Basset of Weldon, and Ralph le Chamberlain held
other land there of Ralph Basset of Drayton, who in
turn held of Ralph Basset of Weldon. (fn. 43) Ralph Basset
of Drayton died in 1341 holding land in Illston in
chief, with Ralph Chamberlain as under-tenant. (fn. 44)

In 1220 the abbey of Croxton Kerrial granted 6
virgates in Illston to Henry de Segrave and his wife
Iseult, to be held of the abbot, in exchange for land
in Eaton. (fn. 45) The grant was confirmed in 1281. (fn. 46) In
1279 the estate in Illston was held of the abbot by
the heirs of Christine de Malure, daughter of Henry
and Iseult. (fn. 47)

William de Beauchamp held, c. 1240, 1/5 knight's
fee in Illston, which was held of him by the heir of
John de Newton. (fn. 48) In 1315 Guy de Beauchamp, Earl
of Warwick, held 2 carucates there, held of him by
Hugh of Dalby, and ¼ knight's fee, held of him by
William, son of John le Lord. (fn. 49)

In 1535 Leicester Abbey held land in Illston to
the annual value of 5s. (fn. 50) This estate was granted to
Thomas and George Tresham in 1551. (fn. 51)

In 1755 Sir Arthur Hazlerigg, of Noseley, bought
an estate in Illston, (fn. 52) where, it seems, he already held
land allotted in lieu of tithe. (fn. 53) In 1788 he was one
of the two principal landowners there, (fn. 54) and in 1928
his descendant, Sir Arthur Grey Hazlerigg, owned
the largest estate in Illston. (fn. 55)

ECONOMIC HISTORY.

In 1086 Hugh de Grentemesnil's holding, 8¾ carucates, was reckoned to be
sufficient for 6 ploughs; no demesne was recorded,
and Hugh's tenants (13 socmen, 1 villein, and 2
bordars) had 4 ploughs. The holding, which included
20 a. of meadow, was said to have been worth 20s.
in 1066 and 30s. in 1086. (fn. 56) Robert de Buci's holding,
half a carucate, supported one plough with a socman
and 2 bordars, and included 2 a. of meadow. It was
said to have been worth 2s. in 1066 and 5s. in 1086. (fn. 57)

The proportion of free tenants to villeins and
cottagers remained high: in 1381 there were 18 free
tenants, 9 tenants at will, and 5 cottagers. (fn. 58) There is
no evidence of any medieval demesne farming. Up
to the 16th century a traditional open-field husbandry was practised: in 1507 on Creake Abbey's
estate there were 20 virgates of arable and only 20 a.
of meadow and pasture. (fn. 59) A certain amount of land
was converted to pasture during the 16th century;
deeds of the late 16th and early 17th centuries in
which the figures given are clearly not arbitrary
show that there was at least half as much pasture as
arable in a normal holding. (fn. 60) Some inclosure took
place c. 1614, (fn. 61) and by 1663 much of the Needhams'
land had been inclosed. (fn. 62) It is not clear whether any
open-field land survived, but further inclosure took
place in 1788. (fn. 63) In 1801 there were 174½ a. of arable
land in the parish, (fn. 64) and this amount rose only a little
in the 19th century. (fn. 65) The conversion from arable to
pasture was apparently accompanied by a reduction
in the number of separate farms, and by 1848 there
were only 8 farmers and graziers at Illston. (fn. 66) In
1928 there were 11 residents described as farmer or
grazier, of whom 3 farmed over 150 a. (fn. 67)

A windmill was included in the estate granted to
Sir Henry de Segrave c. 1220. Perhaps the same mill
was the subject of a settlement in 1250. (fn. 68) A windmill
was again mentioned in 1588. (fn. 69)

PARISH ADMINISTRATION.

No parish records
earlier than the 19th century have survived. There
was apparently no workhouse, and in 1802–330 adults
and 34 children received regular out-door relief. (fn. 70)
In the surviving vestry minute book there are
accounts of the fortnightly meetings of the select
vestry which consisted of 5 or 6 members between
1822 and 1826. (fn. 71) The select vestry appears to have
been established under the Sturges Bourne Act of
1819: the select vestry administered the poor law,
and the open vestry, at its annual meetings, levied
a rate, elected churchwardens, and examined the
accounts. In 1836 Illston was included in the Billesdon Union. (fn. 72)

CHURCH.

In 1220 Illston chapel belonged half to
Noseley and half to Carlton Curlieu. In alternate
years each of the parish churches served the chapel,
on three days a week. (fn. 73) It is likely that this arrangement persisted throughout the Middle Ages. In the
16th century the rectors of the two parish churches
shared the tithes equally. On inclosure c. 1614 it was
arranged that Sir Thomas Hazlerigg, as lay rector of
Noseley, should be allotted 1/20 of all freehold land in
Illston in place of tithes, and that the Rector of Carlton Curlieu should receive 20s. a year from each
yardland. In 1667 a dispute about tithe was ended by
the decision that the land allotted to Hazlerigg for
tithes owed the modus to the Rector of Carlton
Curlieu, but the problem of how the chapelry was to
be served was shelved. (fn. 74) The chapel was still being
served from the two parish churches jointly at the
beginning of the 18th century, but by 1763 it had
become the responsibility of Carlton Curlieu alone. (fn. 75)
The rectors of Carlton Curlieu (since 1940, of Carlton Curlieu and Shangton) have since then served
the cure, and no evidence has been found that
Illston was ever served by a curate of its own. The
tithes of Illston were commuted in 1848 for £100
payable to the Rector of Carlton Curlieu and £101
payable to Sir Arthur Grey Hazlerigg and other
landowners as impropriators. (fn. 76)

In 1549 land with which an obit in Illston church
had been endowed was granted to Edward Pease and
William Winlove. (fn. 77) In 1593 a disputed tenement in
Illston was alleged to have been given for an obit in
the church. (fn. 78)

The chapel of ST. MICHAEL AND ALL
ANGELS stands to the west of the village street and
consists of chancel, clerestoried nave, south aisle,
south porch, and west tower. The oldest surviving
features are of the late 13th century but the font may
have belonged to an earlier building. The font has a
round bowl with traces of incised interlacing circles
and a triangular stem with angle shafts terminating
in carved masks. The tower is of three stages, the
belfry stage having paired lancets of the late 13th
century. The chancel is of the same date or a little
later. The windows have Geometrical tracery mostly
renewed, and attached shafts to the internal jambs.
The moulded arches of the piscina and sedilia are
supported on similar shafts. The chancel arch and
the south arcade of three bays are probably of the
14th century, but the outer walls of the south aisle
appear to have been rebuilt a century later when
Perpendicular windows were inserted. The south
porch was originally of the same date. In the late
15th or early 16th century the nave walls were raised
and a clerestory added. The line of the earlier roof is
visible above the tower arch. At the same time two
tall transomed windows were inserted in the lower
part of the north wall. The head of one of these contains a device in contemporary stained glass and in
the 18th century the remains of a similar device
existed in the other window. (fn. 79) In the thickness of
the wall to the east of the windows is a rood-loft
stair having square-headed openings at both levels.

The earliest report on the condition of the fabric
is of 1776. In this year whitewashing, cleaning, a
new north door, and a new gate to the porch were
needed. (fn. 80) A churchwarden's inscription of 1777,
formerly visible inside the west end of the church, (fn. 81)
probably signified the execution of the necessary
repairs. A report of 1795 gives an impression of
general shabbiness: stonework was decayed and the
west end of the tower needed underpinning. (fn. 82) The
re-facing of the lower part of the tower and the insertion of a west doorway (fn. 83) may have followed this
report. The church was re-pewed c. 1800 and by
1832 the condition of the fabric was held to be good. (fn. 84)
The building was restored by Goddards of Leicester
in 1866–7 when the whole church was re-roofed, a
castellated parapet was added to the tower, and the
south porch appears to have been rebuilt. (fn. 85) In 1902
further alterations were made, including the installation of an organ in memory of E. F. Baillie and the
renewal of several windows. (fn. 86) The opening of the
north chancel window, which had been blocked, (fn. 87) is
probably of this date.

The church contains large painted boards, now in
the aisle, bearing the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the
Ten Commandments, and a list of local charities.
The royal arms are of 1777. The pulpit and seating
apparently date from the restoration of 1866–7. In the
churchyard are the base and part of the shaft of a
medieval stone cross.

At the end of the 18th century the church contained numerous memorials to members of the
Needham family, dating from between 1617 and
1758, (fn. 88) many of which have now disappeared. In
particular there was a handsome wall tablet to
Elizabeth (d. 1639), wife of John Needham, bearing
the figures of herself, her husband, and their 6
children. There was also an early alabaster floor slab
in the nave, much worn. Memorials still in the
church include slabs to John and Elizabeth Needham
(d. 1689 and 1639 respectively), to John Needham
(d. 1689), and to Elizabeth, daughter of Edward
Needham (d. 1758). There are mural tablets in
memory of Mary, wife of Edward Needham (d. 1732),
and of Henrietta Sophia Butler of Ashlands (d. 1935).
Stained glass in the east window by Clayton & Bell
is in memory of Mary, wife of John King of Stretton
Hall, and that in the south chancel windows by
Kempe (fn. 89) (1901) in memory of E. F. Baillie.

There are six bells: (i) and (ii) c. 1600; (iii) 1641;
(iv), (v), and (vi) 1946, as a thanksgiving for victory
in the Second World War. In 1932 the first three
were re-hung and no. (ii) was recast. (fn. 90) The plate consists of a cup and paten of 1758 and a dish and flagon
of 1759, all given by Sir Arthur Hazlerigg in 1759
and still in 1958 kept in their original oak box. (fn. 91) The
registers date from 1653 with a gap in the entries of
marriages from 1751 to 1756.

NONCONFORMITY.

None known.

SCHOOL.

Thomas Sampson, an Oxford graduate,
made his subscription as a schoolmaster at Illston in
1628 and 1629. (fn. 92)

Illston school was erected in 1848 to accommodate children from both Carlton Curlieu and Illston.
It received its first parliamentary grant in 1874 when
the average number of children attending was 37. (fn. 93)
By 1878 average attendance had risen to 84, (fn. 94) but by
1910 had fallen to 20, and in 1911, to fill the places at
Illston, the county council prevented children from
attending the overcrowded school at Burton Overy. (fn. 95)
In 1933 the average attendance was 32, but the number gradually decreased until, when the school was
closed in 1947, there were only 3 pupils. (fn. 96) From 1937
the senior children had been going to school at
Church Langton. (fn. 97) The former school is a whitewashed building with pointed windows, carrying the
date 1848 on its gabled porch. It has now (1958) been
converted into a cottage.

CHARITIES.

In 1800 Mary Heard, by will proved
1803, left £600 for the poor of the parishes of Newtown Linford, Anstey, and Illston. The money was
invested and the interest distributed in equal shares
between the three parishes. (fn. 98) In 1934 Illston's share
of this gift was represented by £347 stock yielding
£8 13s. 8d. (fn. 99) At an unknown date before 1818
Catherine Palmer left £100 for the poor of Illston. (fn. 100)
In 1934 this gift was represented by £133 6s. 8d.
stock yielding £3 6s. 8d. (fn. 101)

6. The initials are thought locally to be those of Mary
Heard of Billesdon (d. c. 1800), who owned the manor. In
1790 the house was said to be 'nearly in ruin', part of it
being occupied by a farmer: Throsby, Leics. Views, ii. 324.

28. Nichols, Leics. ii. 551; for the pedigrees of the two
families see Complete Peerage, v. 340 sqq., and Complete
Peerage (Orig. edn.), viii. 223 sqq. The Ferrers overlordship may have derived from the honor of Leicester and of
Winchester, although Illston is not mentioned as part of
the share of Margery de Ferrers in the partition of the
Winchester Fee: Hist. MSS. Com. Hastings, I, 323–5.

55. Kelly's Dir. Leics. (1928), 116. Sir A. G. Hazlerigg is
described in 1846 as lord of the manor of Illston: White,
Dir. Leics. (1846), 492; but this was apparently regarded
as a mistake, and was corrected in a later edn.: White,
Dir. Leics. (1863), 552. If the Hazleriggs had any right to
the title it presumably derived from their ownership of
land formerly pertaining to the Christ's College manor.